4. Ocean's Eleven (2001)
Off the back of the Oscar success of Traffic, Soderbergh remade the classic Frank Sinatra caper, Ocean's 11 with George Clooney taking over the role initially played by Ol' Blue Eyes. Soderbergh's version of Ocean's Eleven was a commercial and critical success and was much improved over the original with Soderbergh's slick direction and the impressive cast list making this one of the best movies of 2001. It's a film full of glamour that always maintains its sense of fun, whilst still being intriguing and intelligent. The film is impeccably stylish, embodying the glitz of Las Vegas but it has the substance to support the movie. Soderbergh is principal to the success of Ocean's Eleven as he bosses a film that would have crumbled under a director of lesser ability as the film is stacked with stars (Clooney, Pitt, Damon, Garcia, Cheadle, Roberts, Cedric the Entertainer) and the film may have come across as self-aggrandising if it wasn't for Soderbergh's skilled and controlled direction. Don Cheadle's cockney accent has gone on to reach special levels of infamy but it is easy to be wooed by the film as the stars come out for one of the slickest films and robbery sequences of the decade. It may not be Soderbergh's most interesting or psychological film, but it has wit to spare and it is as good a movie as it could be as it is executed to perfection.